I felt once they can relax on the engine cover they think of chewing the nearby wiring system.
So I tried the glue pad setup and that made the rodents stay away from my car (caught one and the rest fear to come to engine bay area I guess)

Thanks to a rat attack, had to get my 2010 Dzire's entire engine bay harness changed last year in July. Was saved thanks to insurance. Started hanging PCI's rat poison in the engine bay (sounds harsh, but we noticed there were too many of them coming from the various holes because of cracked concrete in some corners of our society, in spite of pest control). Then next month I am off to Mangalore with the car and don't bother.

Then in February this year, in Mangalore, starting early morning around 4.30 am for Mumbai, I start the car, and there's this huge rumble in the engine bay, for 3 seconds I felt as if the entire front end of the car to be falling off and vibrating. Felt some movement in the right wheel well and I see this massive rat MASSIVE and SCARY scurrying away in the right ORVM. Quickly open the hood and check if everything is alright and move on.

Back in Mumbai, a couple weeks later, I start the car and feel the engine vibrating haphazardly, open the hood, and as expected, some of the wires have been bitten off. Take the car to FNG and get it taped up. Bring back the car and tie in 2 big packets of tobacco in the engine bay. Nothing since then. Also, tiling work was carried out in the society, so all the holes were filled up. Made a trip back to Mangalore post that, and no incident over there too.

Spraying a 1:1 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water sure has worked lately in repelling both cats and rats. Tried it for repelling cats but has now worked for rats too. I still have naphthalene balls in the car floor just in case the rats become resistant to the apple cider vinegar.

Rats are attracted to the ones which stay overtime. Earlier, I used to take the train for my commute to office and I had my Wagon R used only on weekends. There were couple of minor Rat attacks. Either they bit the wires, wind washer tubes and had rat poops in the engine bay. Later when my office location changed, I had to take the car for my commute to office daily and there were no signs of rat coming back, though I saw them running around in the open area. Guess, rats don't like hot engines, road tar smell.

Do you use it only for the BMW or it is used for your Sunny and the Jeep as well?

Of all the cars that I've owned, it's the Hondas that were destroyed by rats (Civic, big time). C220 was attacked once and had its turbo pipe chewed off. Neither my Jeep nor Sunny have been attacked by rats. I use the spray on the 530d because it's my primary car + will be too complex to fix if the rascals attack it. More as a preventive measure, you can say.

I still have naphthalene balls in the car floor just in case the rats become resistant to the apple cider vinegar.

I also used naphthalene balls but removed it soon after for fear of fire. They can catch fire I guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TROOPER

From my experience, I would say tobacco works, for now.

Tobacco has been the best option so far. I haven't seen any rat droppings post tobacco use. The rat kill cakes were all eaten up in a day and the rats were seen again post it. So started using tobacco.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saisree

IMO, Car which is driven daily doesn't attract Rats.

... rats don't like hot engines, road tar smell.

Yup, that's also true .

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Of all the cars that I've owned, it's the Hondas that were destroyed by rats (Civic, big time).

I also used naphthalene balls but removed it soon after for fear of fire. They can catch fire I guess.

Yes, they do catch fire, hence I put naphthalene balls inside the car only on the floor mats where its pretty safe. I own a Honda Civic and I've had the issues of rats coming inside the car through the glove box area. There are no problems faced in the engine bay. However to be on the safe side, I've sprayed apple cider vinegar around the car and places where the rats frequent and naphthalene balls inside the car.

To all depending on tobacco for protection from rats below is a pic of my car in 2016 when it was attacked by rats. That is fresh tobacco laid a day below and the murdered wiring of my car. Needless to say it cost me a lot of heartache and holes in the wallet.

Another thing I found out is not to use car covers. Rats seem to be more likely to enter a car when dark and cool. Have also heard that parking the car under a bright light will prevent rat attacks.... better yet, they say, keep the bonnet open if possible so that light is directly shining under the engine.

On a another rodent, I had a squirrel coming into my engine compartment a few times. While they dont have droppings, they can also create havoc by biting wires. Since my car is parked back side towards the wall, I reversed it for a few days (i.e. front side toward the wall). The squirrel stopped getting in. Not sure if this will work for rats, though.